Grain-separator.



PATENTED JULY 24, 1905.

G. W. BRADBURY GRAIN SEREXRIJEGR. APPLICATION FILED JJHEB, 1905.

Attorneys SHEET 1.

r. SHEETS Inventor by v WW um G. W. BRADBURY. GRAIN SEPARATOR.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 8. 1905.

PATENTED JULY 24, 1906.

5 BHBETS-SKBET 2.

Witnesses N t 7 i, N Inventor Attorneys N0; szmss PATENTED JULY 24,1906.

5 SHEETSSHBET 3 inventor Attorneys PATENTED JULY 24, 1906.

G. W. BRADBUBY. GRAIN SEPARATOR.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 8, 1905.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

GwgfeWfi/udmiy lnv'entor Witnesses Attorneys No. 826,988. PATENTBD JULY24, 1906. G. WpBRADBURY.

GRAIN SBPARATOR.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 8, 1905.

5 SHEET$SHET-T n znnnnnnnnn/n-ln nnnnnnnn Geogdell fimaary lnventc rAttorneys UNITED STATES PATENT orrron.

, GEORGE W. BRADBURY, OF WALLA; WALLA, WASHINGTON.

" 'G RAlN-SEPARATOH.

To alt whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, GEORGE W. BRADBURY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Walla Walla, in the county of Wallawalla I 5 "grain andvaluable matter from the straw,

ume to constitute a distinct layer or stratum chafl", and lighterparticles in a very thorough and efficient manner in the se aratin partof the machinethat is to say, efore t as grain is 'subjected to theaction of, the cleaning mechanis1n-the purpose being to produce awell-cleaned product by the separating mechanism alone, and thus toenable power to be saved in the operation of the cleaning mechanism.

Another object of the invention is to dispense with oscillatory,vibratory, and recip rocatory nrschanisms, such as shaking-screens andthe like, whereby a degree of vibration is set up which is injurious-tothe mechanism of machines of the ordinary types.

With these and other ends in view, which will readily appear as thenature of the invention is better understood, the present invention maybe described as consistingin maintaining within a suitably-constructedcasin an air-current discharging at the tail end of the casing and ofsufficient velocity and volof air in motion upon Whichthe straw, chaff,and lighter particles will practically be floated through the. length ofthe, casing until discharged at the tail end of the casing.

The invention further consists in'maintainin I above said stratum orair-current a plu- ;raity of carriers, such as inclined raddlesoverlapping one another and adapted to support the straw and lighterparticles, to agitate and tear the same asunder, to divide the upperfrom the lower part of the casing in which the air-current ismaintained, and to permitthe grain and heavy particles to be separatedfrom the straw and light particles and to settle upon the bottom of'thecasing, where means are provided for disposing of the grain.

The invention-further. consists in the com- Specification of LettersPatent. Application filed June 8, 1905. Serial No. 264,314,

indicated by the line 3 3 in Fig. 1.

Patented July 24, 1906.

bination, with the threshin andseparating mechanisms, of an irnproverilcleaning or fanning mechanism which is supported upon the forward partof the deck of the casing and to which the separated grain isconveyedb'y an elevating mechanism.

The invention further consists in the improved construction and novelarrangement and combination of parts, which will be here inaiter fullydescribed, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings has been illustrated a simple and preferredform of the invention, it being, however, understood that no limitationis necessarily made to the precise structural details therein exhibited,"but that the right is reserved to any changes, alterations, andmodifications to which recourse may be had within the scope of theinvention and without departing from the spirit or sacri'iicing theefficiency of the same.

In said drawipgs, Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of agrainseparator constructed and equipped in accordance with theprinciples of-the invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same.Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken on the plane Fig. 4is a horizontal sectional view taken on the plane indicated by the linea i in Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view taken on the line 5 5in Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a sectional detail view taken on the planeindicated by the line 6 6 in Fig. 1. Fig. 7 is a longitudinal sectionalview of the lower part of a machine embodyiiig a modified construction.Fig. 8 is a transv-trse sectional detail view taken on the planeindicated by the line 8 8 in 7.

Corresponding parts in the several figures are indicated throughout bysimilar characters of reference.

A casing 1 of appropriate form and con struction is supported upon frontand rear trucks 2 and 3, whereby it may be conveniently transported fromplace to place, and this casing constitutes the body of the machine. Atthe front end of the casing is the feed-table 4, the concave 5, and ashaft6, carrying the cylinder 7, all f which are of ordinaryconstruction. Slightly in rear of the cylinder-carrying shaft is a shaft8, carrying a beater 9, which is driyen by means of a belt 10 from theshaft carrying the cylinder, so as to rotate in the same direction asthe latter.

In the upper part of the casing are disposed a plurality of inclinedcarriers or rad- IIO dles..,'. in Fig. 1 of the drawings three suchraddles have been shown, designated, respectively, 12, 13, and 14; butit isto be understood that any desired number of such raddles may beused, according to the size and proportions of the machine. The forwardraddlc 12 is disposed under the beater 9 and with its forward endextended beneath the delivery-lmard 15 of the concave. so that materialdelivered between the cylinder and the concave and subjected to thebeating and loosening action of the beater 9 will be-dcposited upon thelower end of said raddle,

- which latter is of a width corresponding with 15 the width 01'' thecasing. Each of the raddles is preferably composed of slats 16, mountedupon flexible members, such as belts .17,

which latter are supported by pulleys 18 upon the upper shafts 19,2t),"a-1rd 21 and pul- 2o l'eys 22 upon the lower shafts 23, 24, and.25.

' The several supporting-shafts,of the raddles are journaled in thesides of thyg asing, and eachshaft is provided at one end with asprocket; wheel 26, the several sprocket- .wheels being connected by achain 27, whereby the several raddles areproperly driven. The shaft 19of the lirst 'raddle 12 is driven by means of a twisted belt 28 from theshaft 8 of the heater 9'.

In the manufacture of'thc raddles I prefer to employ steel slats,although, ofcourse, any material may be used, said slats being suit-"ably spaced apart to permit grain and bits of cars having grainattached thereto to pass between the slats. The lower half (orthereabouts) of the upper lead of each raddle is supported upon aninclined slide or supporting member 29. The entire lower lead of therearmost raddle (here designated 14) is likewise supported upon aninclined supporting member or slide 30.

It has been already stated that the several raddles are disposed n theupper part of the casing. It may, furtner, be stated that the 45receiving end of each raddle is overlapped by the delivery end oftheprecedin one, so that material passin over the raddle will be depositedupon the next one or will be iutercepted by the latter without droppinginto 59 the lover part of the casing, in which an aircurrent ismaintained, as will be presently described.

At the fronteud of the casin beneath the cylinder and the concave anwell to the front of the latter is supported a fan-casin 31, containinga fan' 32, which is supporter upon'a shaft 33, driven direct from the 0lin flder-shaft 6 by mehns of a belt or ban 34, I The rear part of thefan-casin has a mouth .j 'o gti'of large area, said mouth being equal toJone-fourth of the perimeter ofthe fan-casing,

or even more, if desired, theupper and lower edges of said mouth beingprovided with flarflanges 36 and 37, the former of which is connected bya deflector 38 with the front part of the casing of the separator. Thedeflector 38 is needed for the purpose of conveying grain." which passesbetween the bars of the concave in a learward direction in the machineand out of-the range of thebladcs of the fan 32, whereby such grainwould be liable to be crushed or injured. The flanges 36 and 37 alsopermit the air, which is set in motion. by the fan and which isdischarged through the mouth 35, to be disseminated through the casingwithin limits which are circumscribed in the manner to be hereinafterset forth.

In some machines a single fan arranged as herein described may besullicientfor the purposes of the invention. At other times, andespecially in lirge machines, it may be found desirable to provideadditional or auxiliary means forforcing air throu h the case ing of themachine, especially at the rear end of the latter, or for reinforcingthe blast, as it might be termed. This object may be accomplished invarious ways. In the drawings has been illustrated an additional orauxiliary fan-casing 39, supported about midway in the machine andcontaining a fan 40, mounted upon a shaft 41, which has been shown asbeing driven by means of a link belt 42 from the shaft 33 of the fan 32.This auxiliary fan-casing has a rearwardly-open ing mouth 43, which isalso'of large area, and it is provided at the upper edge of said mouthwith an upwardly and rearwardly inclined flange 44. An inverted-V-shapeddeflector 45 is also provided, one edge of said deflector beingconnected with the free edge of the flange 44 and the other edge withthe upper portion of the fan-casing 39. The latter as een shown asarranged directly beneath the raddle 13, whichoccupies a positionintermediate the ends of the casing and intermediate the raddles 12 and14; but it is to be understood that not only may the location of theauxiliary fan-casing 39 and its related parts be changed within thescope of the invention, 1 10 but any desired number of such auxiliaryfancasings may be employed.

The bottom 46 of the casing 1 has been shown as being approximatelysemicylindrical in shape and provided with a een trallydisposedlongitudinal trough 47 of semicircular cross-section, which isintersected about centrally ofthe casing by a subjacenttransversely-disposed trough 48, communicating therewith. 'The ends ofthe casing are provided .vith bearings for a shaft 49, carrying right.and, left hand spiral convcyers 50 and 51," which "by the rotation ofthe shat t will ,carrylmaterial settling in the trough-47 from the outandrear ends of the main casing in the direction ofthe transverseintersecting trough 48, into which all such material is delivered. Theshaft 49has been shown as provided near its rear end with a bevel-gear52, meshing with a bevel-gear 53 upon a r39 transverselydisposed shaft54, which is driven by means of a link belt from the shaft 21, which suports the upper end of the rear raddle.14. e transverse trough 48contains a spiral conveyer 56, the shaft of which, 57, extends into thecasing 58 of an elevator or conveyer, including an endless web or band59, carrying a plurality of bucks cts or-slats 60 of ordinaryconstruction. The shaft 57 has been shown as carryin a sprocket-wheel61, connected by a link belt 62 with a sprocket-wheel 63 upon thefancarrying shaft 41'; but it is obvious that it may be driven in anyother convenient manner-for instance, direct from the shaft 33 of thefront or main fan.

It will be seen that by the mechanism herein described the grain whichis separated from the straw is carried to. the central portion ofthe'casing and delivered into a transversely-disposed conveyer-trough,from whence it passes to an elevator, whereby it is conveyed to cleaningmechanism to be here inafter described. It is desired to beunderstood,however, that although the herein-described mechanism for conveying thegrain will be preferred, owing to its simplicity of construction andease of o eration, other well- ,known and approved rnec anism may besub- ,stituted such as illustrated, for instance,

in Figs. 7 and 8 of the drawin s, where'the casing has been shown asprovi ed with a flat bottom 64, intersected by anapproximately centrallydisposed trough or depression 65, in which is supported a spiralconveyer, (here designated 66.) For the urpose of convey mg the grain tothe troug 65 a pair-of drapers 67 andfiShave been shown, said dra ers.being operable in the direction of the mi dle oi the casing,-es will bereadily seen and understood. These drapers may be operated in anysuitable and convenient manner from the fan-shaftyfrom the raddles; orfrom any other movable partsor the machine,

' Upon the forward part of the deck 69 of the machine-casing is suported the recleaning mechanism whereby t from the straw is separated.from dust, chaff, and other worthless material, which, in spite of theeifective work of the separating mechism roper, may still be associatedtherewith.

The cleaning mechanism is arranged within the casing 7 0,which, asstated,is su ported upon the'iront part of the deck 69, and itcomprises, primarily, a shaking-shoe suspended by inks-7 1 beneath theroof of the casing 70 and comprising a chafiing-screen 72 and animperforate plate 73, supported beneath and spaced from said screen. Theshoe S, comprising the screen 7." nd plate 78, is slightly tilted orinclined in a forward-direction, and the screen is of a mesh. which willadmit of the passage of grain, cookie, and the like, while chaff andunthreshed grain, includin earsor portions of cars to which grain isstil e grain separated protruc e through the meshing and which exhibit atendency to lodge thereadhering, will tail over the front edge of thescreen and into a chute or s out 74, whereby it is conveyed to thefeed-ta is in front of the cylinder to be rethreshed. The shoe S is fedfrom the spout'75 of the elevator-casing 58,

said spout being extended obliquely to one.

side and provided with a discharge opening or mouth 76, which is of awidth approximately equal to the width of the. shoe and within which isdisposed ascrew conveyer 77, whereby the grain coming from the ele-'vator will be spread transversely over the up- The shaft of the screwconve er 77 has" been shownas driven, b means 0 a link belt 78,.from theshaft 79, w 'chsupports the upper end of the elevatorbelt 59. Motion isalso communicated from said shaft 79 b means of a belt 80 to the shaft81 of a fan82 in a casing or housing 83, which is supported adjacent tothe elevator-casing 58 transversely upon the deck of the machine. Thestand 84, which supports the fan-casing 83, also sup orts a fan-casing85, fan 86, t

belt 88 from the fan-shaft 81. The fan cascontaining a e shaft of which,87, is driven by a reading ing or housing has a spout or mouth 89, 4

which extends through the rear part of the casin 70 in alinement withthe rear end of the s aking-shoe S. The housing 83 ofthe.

fan 82 has a plurality of discharge spouts or funnels 90 extendingthrough the rear wall of the casing 7,0'in alipement with a plurality ofrotary screehs 91, suitably supported for rotation beneath theshaking-shoe S, said cylinders being inclinedin a downward and rearwarddirection. The mesh of these cylin ders is such as to prevent thepassage of sta-' 'ple grain, while small grains, cockle, and the ike maypass therethrough. At the upper or front ends of the cylindrical screens91 is disposed a transverse feedtrough 92, receiving the discharge frdmthe imperfora-te plate 73 of the shoe and provided with a plurality ofcorrugations 93, constituting feed-spouts, which are extended into theupper ends of the rotary screens, which are thereby supplied. Adjacentto eachscreen a scra er 94, the function of which is to push back actualcontact such grains as may of the screens in and to interfere with theiroperation. The material discharged through the cylindrical screens dropsupon a rearwardly-inclined' chute 94', discharging into a trough 95,containing a rpiral conveyer 96, whereby the.

material is ischarged at one side of the casis supported ICC in into asuitable receptacle, such as a box or a suitably-sup )orted bag. Thematerial discharged over the rear ends of the inclined cylindricalscreens 9] passes into a. trough 97, adjacent to and parallel with thetrough 95 and containing a spiral conveyer 98, whereby it is eventuallydiscl urged at one side of the casing, where it is taken care of, asusual, the material discharged throu h the conveyertrough 97' being thecleaned grain.

Su )portcd beneath the inclined chute or board 94 is a slide 99, whichmay be moved over the trough 95, so that the material passing throughthe cylindrical screens will be discharged into the coliveyer trough 97,as

' will be readily understood.

The shaking-shoe is driven by a pitman 100, connected with a crank 101upon the fan-shaft 87. The shaft of one of the conveyers 98 is driven bya belt 102 from the fan-shat t 81, and the shaft of the conveye r 9a isdriven by a belt 103 from the. shaft of the conveyer 98. A twisted belt104 transmits motion from the shaft of the convever 96 to a shaft 105,supported longitudinally in suitable bearings upon the outside oi thecasing 70, and the shaft 105 has a spur-wheel lot) operating through aslot 107 in said casing and engaging one of a series of intermeshingspur-gears 108, mounted exteriorly upon the cylindrical screens 91,which are thereby rotated.

In nearly all threshing-niachines and grainseparators there is provisionfor con'veying the threshed material rearmirdly through the casing andfor meanwhile keeping said material in a state at agitation orcommotion, which is designed to facilitate the separation of the grainand heavy particles from the straw and light and comparatively worthlessparticles, the latter being conveyed to the straw-pile. at the tail endof the machine, while. the. grain and heavy materials which have beenseparated during the mssage through the machine are delivered. apartfrom the straw. The material discharged by the threshing meehanisn; isusually carried through the inachine-(anling by mechanical means, whichare objectionable, owing to the power required to drive them and to theobstructiens which they present to the proper separation of the grain.in other machines air currents or blasts are employed to operate uponthe material while passing rearwardly through the casing for the purposeof agitating and partly supporting or floating the same, so that themechanical devices may be considered in the light of auxiliary means toprevent the straw from settling and to serve as screens for theseparation of the grain. Under the present invention the raddlesdisposed throughout the length of the machine m aybe consideredin thelight of screens and supporting members; but it is desired to beespecially observed that. said raeldles are disposed altogctherin theupper part of the casing of the machine, while the means for setting theair in motion are disposed altogether beneaththe raddles. It will thusbe seen that when the machine is in operation the entire lower part ofthe casing is occupied by or lilled with a stratum of air moving withgreat velocity in a rearward direction toward thcdisclmrge end of themachine. This moving stratum ol" air is of considerable. volume, andbeing preventml from expanding downwardly and laterally by the bottomand the sides of the casing it is free to expand only u an upwarddirection--thzit is to say, through, between, and over the raddles. Thelatter therefore may not be properly described "straw-carriers," butmore properly as screen-partit ions, through and between which. grainmay gravitate, while the straw practically lloated through themachine-casing upon the air-current and is discharged at the tail end ofthe machine, preferably upon a stacker of ordinary construction, which,however, is not shown.

The material delivered from the cylinder and concave under the influenceof the beater t) upon the first raddlc will strike the board or slide 2)with some degree of force, which is ell'ective in dislodging grain fromcars or parts of cars to which they still ad here. The slides .29 of theseveral raddles are elle'ctive tor the same purpose, while the slide 30under the rearmost raddle is ex trcmely important and ell'ective inintercepting grain which might otherwise be blown out at the tail end ofthe machine, such rain being conveyed by the middle 14 in a l'orwarddirection and delivered into the lower part of the casing.

An extremely-important feature of the present invention is that uncerthe construction and arrangement of )arts herein described only thegrain and he-a particles will be a'pable oi se tling in. the lower partol the casing, all straw, (hall, and light particles being carried uponthe upwardly-expanding and rearwardly-directcd air-current lo'a point of'linal discharge. at the rear end ot the casing, which is unobstructedand of larger crosssectional area than any intermediate part of thecasing, owing to the rear part of the deckbcing inclined upwardly, asshown. This is important in order to permit the rcar\\'ardly-moving aircurrent to expand upwardly, thus blowing the light stull' out oi" the mahim, while not interfering with the settling of the grain by gravit v.This may be aid to constitute tllClctMliI'lg feature of the presentinvention, inasmuch as the separation is thereby rendered so thoroughand eil'ecti've as to be *actically complete, the subsequent cleaningoperation being necessary mainly for thc pur mse of eliminating dust andsmall seeds, suc ;as cookie, millet, and the like, together with grainis distributed in the manner described upon the shaking-shoe containingthe chafiing-screen, the grain passing through the latter and earsweighted with grain passing over the screen and through thechute 74 tothe tln'eshing mechanism. The grai asses over the bottom plate 7 3 ofthe shola mt e trough 92 and is delivered by the feeder sspleemngmechanism, the grain passing fromformed in the latter into theupper end of the cylindrical screens, through which an aircurrent is setup by the fan 82 through the tunnels or spouts 90 of the fan-casing 83.

Dust and impurities will be effectively removed or separated from thegrain by the air-currents set up by the fans 82 and 86, while the gradesof grain or seed may be separated by the cylindrical screens 91. Whenthis latter separation is not desired, the material passing through thecylindrical screens, as well as the over-tail from the latter, may bedirected into the trough 97 by adjusting the slide 99 astride the trou h95.

From the foregoing description, ta ken in connection with the drawingshereto annexed, the operation and advantages of this invention will bereadily understood by those skilled in the art to which it appertains.The construction is simple, and the machine has been found to bethoroughly effective in practical operation for the purpose for which itis intended.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is 1. A grainseparator comprising rearwardly-expanded body-easing having at its rearan opening of greater cross-sectional area that any intermediate portionof the casing, a trough-shaped floor located in said casing andextending longitudinall thereof, said 001 having along its centralongitudisaid depression and adapted to move the grain from the ends ofthe separator to the middle thereof, a t1ansversely-extending conveyeradapted to convey the grain from the middle of the floor in a lateraldirection and outside of said casing, avertically-arranged conveyeradapted to elevate the grain on top of said casing, a superimposedcasing located upon the said body-casing, a grain-screening apparatuslocated within the last said casing and upon which the said grain isdeposited, a fan operating in conjunction with said grain-screeningmechanism, a series of rotating screens located below the said grainsaidgrain-screening mechanism entering the said rotating screens, and ameans for forcingrl blast of air up the rotating screens in the oppositedirection from that taken by the grain. o-

2. In a separator the combination with a rearwardly-expanded body-casinghaving an opening in its rear end of greater cross-sec tional area thanof any intermediate ortion of the casing; of a plurality of radd esdispose 1 Within the casing and above the bottom thereof, a troughdisposed longitudinally within the bottom of the casin there being anuninterrupted airspace etween said "itrough and the raddles andextending to the rear opening of the body-casing, and means within saidair-spa e for setting in motion the ward between the raddles, downwardupon the conveyer, and rearwardly through the openmg.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have h reto aflixedmy signature 1n the presence of two 'lllIlBSStE.

' GEORGE W. BRADBURY.

Witnesses:

J. H. Joonrnr, Jr., L. L. MonnrLL.

nal axis a depression, conveyors operating in I air contained thereinand directing it up

